ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

iordache - "dissipatin'"

Romanian saxophonist and bandleader Mihai Iordache has shortened his performing title to simply his surname - a move that might worry those who fear a Kenny G. influence, although trimming down to just a last name is more like the New Orleans saxophonist and keyboardist Skerik. Either guy would find at least some aspects of Iordache's versatile musical offerings appealing, both would no doubt admire the man's soloing abilities on both alto and baritone saxophone. He presses ahead, his tone solid whether trying to sound ugly or beautiful, set on a successful outcome, self-reliant in this goal due to his own vivid melodic imagination. Some who are familiar with the Eastern bloc lifestyle may think this description makes Iordache sound like a guy standing in a milk line three blocks long; even from this point of view, "Dissipatin'" surely proves that Romanians can play music just as funky as anyone else.

Funk-jazz and variants thereof do indeed dominate this program of eight pieces, although the most exquisite piece is out of a different sort of style: "Fig Tree", beautifully sung by Marta Hristea, is the type of ditty June Tyson might have sung in the Sun Ra band. Iordache's feel for this material is enormous, approaching heavenly, no doubt because of his own experience playing in, of all things, a Romanian Sun Ra cover band. The CD's title track also has a cosmic jazz feel to it and setting a nice mood. Guitarist Eugen Nutescu - the subject of envy amongst all fellow free jazz guitarists since he has the word "nut" planted right solidly inside his name - seems to be playing with almost total stylistic abandon, bringing to mind some of the rock-jazz combos fronted by keyboardist Wayne Horvitz. His playing may also evoke the controversial presence of the late Henry Vestine on Albert Ayler records. Drummer Vadim Tichisan also attracts attention, his prompts tending to sound like someone backing a motorcycle into a garage. The recording sound is cozy although woozy, with slight distortion in the thickest sections of "Gloomy Sunday". Keyboard sounds thicken the textures to various degrees, from superb organ to some dodgy synth sounds.

If you happen to think that jazz music belongs to a zone that is unreachable for your ears (which would have to be polished beforehand with a healthy dose of Charlie Parker or Miles Davis, to face the fun) or if after having been trained by the masters' saxophones and trumpets you still tend to resist, it means time is ripe for you to buy "dissipatin'". It's not that iordache stopped playing jazz, or that jazz itself has suddenly become, by who knows what funny transformation, some naive and unpretentious ditty. No. The point to this story is that, unlike his first album "friday" - which was quite demanding for the tastes of those not accustomed to the introspective side of this genre - iordache's "dissipatin'" is 100% today's music (...).

The musicians you will hear are not the kind you usually see on TV, yet they are absolutely perfect. I'm talking about (as they are listed on the CD cover) singer Marta Hristea, tenor saxophonist Cristian Soleanu, guitarists Eugen Nutescu and Sorin Romanescu, Raul Kusak on the Hammond organ and Moog, bassist Vlaicu Golcea and drummer Vadim Tichisan. It's easy to realize what this list means, if one keeps in mind that Hristea, Romanescu, Kusak and Golcea are also a part of Aievea, an extraordinary band (...). The album's sound is full of tasteful professionalism, and iordache's wandering saxophone is in turn edgy and dark, testing harmony's limits ("Gloomy Sunday"), nice and demure ("You Know It's True"),cheerful ("Up"), scented and romantic ("Time of our lives"), introspective and minimalist ("Fig Tree"),daring and spectacular ("Tu n'as rien vu a Schaerbeck"), rhythmic and humourous ("Recycle") or simply mainstream ("Dissipatin'") and is skillfully supported by a virtuoso guitarist - Eugen Nutescu from the rock band Kumm - the elegant bass playing and electro touch of Vlaicu Golcea, the classical and progressive logic of Raul Kusak, the brotherly and passionate exchanges with Cristian Soleanu and the floating, velvety voice of Marta Hristea. The chances that this cosmopolitan and savoury mix would become monotonous are zero. Even the album's construction, apparently heterogeneous when it comes to the sequence of tunes, juggles with different moods as if to make sure nothing will be repeated. The result is a kind of jazz which is both refined and perfectly intelligible, and which - the way it sounds in "Tu n'as rien vu a Schaerbeck" and "Fig Tree" - even a casual listener could adore.

While not your "typical" jazzman, iordache can yet be counted among the most important musicians of the middle generation, a man who frequently and successfully crossed the borders between music styles. He is the same Mihai Iordache from the heyday of [punk-rock band] Sarmalele Reci - today he's a member of KUMM - a restless saxophonist (actually he also plays flute, didjeridu and whatever he can coax a sound from), always open for a new experience, from playing with Harry Tavitian to his recent concerts with DJ Electroclown.

His first solo release "friday" (2003) was followed, this year, by "dissipatin'", a superb album where every detail is carefully considered: the repertoire, the choice of musicians, the studio work and the graphic design. While the first album featured Tom Smith, a great American trombonist, this time iordache's guests are guitarists Sorin Romanescu and Eugen Nutescu (his bandmate from KUMM), fellow saxophonist Cristian Soleanu, Hammond player Raul Kusak and especially Vlaicu Golcea, who besides his bass part also handled the programming, mixing and mastering. As a final surprise, we also get Marta Hristea's voice on two tracks - she wasn't a part of the initial plan, and nobody would ever suspect she simply improvised the lyrics browsing through a religious book someone gave her on the subway.

Six out of eight tunes are iordache's own. The other two are by Guillaume Maupin (Tu n'as rien vu a Schaerbeck) and Pablo Doherty (Gloomy Sunday). The two saxophonists are particularly well-matched and inspired on "Dissipatin'", "Time Of Our Lives" and "Up", while the guitarists make the most of "Tu n'as rien vu..", "Fig Tree" and "You Know It's True". My personal favourites are "Recycle", "Time..." and "You Know...", which strikingly remind me of a legendary album, "Focus III"(...)